All lawyers should have an iPad!

Posted this on Loyarburok! Got attacked by a Grammar Nazi for my bad grammar and spelling -_- well, I live by the motto “Don’t feed the trolls”. I didnt bother replying.

On a brighter note, immediately after publishing this article, I got invited to speak on the use of technology to help lawyers at the Bar Council. Writing articles does wonders!

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Well, this article is not only about the iPad but about other tablets in the market in general. Other tablets such as Samsung Galaxy Tab or Blackberry Playbook are instructive examples, too, but that is not my focus here.

For me, my iPad is probably one of the most useful tools in my practice. It helps me with the following:-

Research
An internet enabled iPad is very useful for quick research. Imagine you’re in Court and you suddenly remember a case which would help your case. You can easily access legal publishing websites such as CLJ, Lexis-Nexis and even British and Irish Legal Information Institute (Baili). On a different note, Lexis-Nexis now has its own iPhone App. I understand that an iPad App for that will be out soon.

You can also store your basic cases and statues in your iPad. Since my practice is only limited to intellectual property matters, I keep a folder of relevant statues such as the Trade Marks Act 1976, Patents Act 1983, Copyright Act 1987, Industrial Designs Act 1996, Franchise Act 1998, Personal Data Protection Act 2010 etc. This allows you to access it quickly without internet connection.

Accessibility
With the right App (such as DropBox) or a proprietary software, you can access your files anywhere. Let say you need to look at a letter for a file, you can view straightaway it on your iPad.

I use DropBox to store my statues and legal cases – divided into various categories. For example, if I want to view a case regarding trade marks, I only need to access my Trade Marks folder.

Dropbox also synchronizes my folders in all my devices. To illustrate, the files that I keep in my PC will be the same with the files in my iPad when I update the former.

If you have a little bit money to spend, build a proprietary software or use a reputable software to make your files accessible remotely and securely.

But remember, everything that can be accessed on the internet, although secured by professionals, is not 100% secure. You wouldn’t want to end up like ACS:Law, a UK law firm who had some of their confidential information leaked online after its website was attacked.

Saving paper
The iPad allows you to take notes using its keyboard or even scribbling your notes on handwriting apps such as Penultimate. I have books and books of notes in my room. Some of these notes had no value and it’s a waste of paper.

Once you’re done with your notes, your can email them to yourself or anyone you like.

Presentation
Recently, I met a potential client who wanted help on drafting an intellectual property license agreement. He had never seen such agreement before and my professional fee was a concern to him. He was probably thinking why should I pay so much for something I’ve never seen before?

I downloaded a 20 pages sample intellectual property license agreement into my iPad and showed him that such agreement would look like this. That 20 pages agreement was a great help to him to visualize the deliverables and of course, my fees. 😀

Screen sharing
Few months ago, my colleague printed a few copies of presentation slides and distributed them to some clients in a meeting. I suddenly thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool if he had distributed iPads with those slides?”. Imagine walking into a board meeting with 10 iPads in your hand to be distributed to the board of directors!

With screen sharing, a user can share his screen with others by connecting the devices wirelessly. Let’s say if you wish to refer to a passage in a case to a Judge, you can do so by sharing your screen with him (provided that the Judge has an iMac or iPad, which brings to say, “All Judges should have an iPad too!”).

Digital Text Converter
If you have iPad2, you can use it like a scanner by taking a picture of a document and then convert it to editable text using Apps like FotoNote. Very useful when you have some hardcopy precents that are too troublesome to be typed.

You can also convert written digital text into editable text using certain Apps like PhatPat.

GPS
iPad has basic GPS function. It gives you your real-life location and directions to a specific place. Although very basic, this function saved my skin numerous times when I needed directions to Court or finding my way out of Putrajaya and Cyberjaya.

Closing
There are many functions which I have not explored on my iPad. I’ve seen Apps which allow you to digitally sign on a document. I’ve also seen Apps which could turn your iPad into a fax machine to send and receive facsimile. It will also help you send the document by mail!

I only own an iPad hence I am unable to advise whether the other tablets are good. But if you’re looking for an iPad for work, my view is that a 16Gig and 3G+Wifi iPad2 is sufficient. iPad should be treated as a secondary device hence there is no point storing all your information inside. Also, with cloud computing, your data need not be stored in the iPad but in the “clouds”.

As for the best country to purchase an iPad, Malaysia has one of the lowest iPad prices.

As a closing note, iPad is a portable device. It is a light and easy to carry. It can easily be misplaced and lost. Therefore, security is very important. Make sure you password protect your iPad and ensure that MobileMe is installed. MobileMe allows you to wipe out your content if you lose your iPad.

San Francisco 2011 – San Francisco Food Guide

I spent most of my time in the city centre hence most of the time I ate around Union Square. These are the place that I like around Union Square. Since it’s within a tourist area, food is slightly more expensive.

Ted’s Steakhouse

Ted’s Steakhouse is my favourite. It’s affordable and tasty. Almost everyday, I have breakfast here. Their breakfast set is quite nice. My personal favourite would be their french toast with maple syrup.


Ted’s steaks comes with a thick but tender piece of beef steak served with delicious gravy. It is complimented by a cheese baked potato. Condiments are optional. I love it with vinegar!

Address
120 Powell St
San Francisco, California 94102
Tel: (415) 982-1718
Website: http://www.tadssteaks-sf.com‎

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Sears Fine Food


Many says Sears Fine Food is a tourist trap. Indeed the place is packed with people on a normal day but the food and ambience is well worth it. The place has been around since 1938.


Sears is well known for its dollar sized Swedish pancakes. It’s perfectly moisted and airy. It comes with warm maple syrup and whipped butter. Alternatively, you can have bacon strip or sausage.


Meat loaf

Their blue plate special is good as well. Everyday they would have a different dish. I had their meat loaf and it was awesome! However, roast breast of turkey was mediocre.

Address
439 Powell Street, San Francisco, CA 94102-1503
Tel: (415) 986-1160
Website: http://www.searsfinefood.com

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Boudin

Boudin is a chain of bakery and cafes around San Francisco. They’re well known for its sourdough French bread. The word sourdough intrigued me as I am a big fan of sourish stuff.

I’ve never tried sourdough before hence I ordered the sourdough sandwiches. I thought the bread would be very sour but it was merely a tinge of sourness.


It was so huge that I had the same bread for breakfast and lunch!

Boudin’s website: http://www.boudinbakery.com/

Cheesecake Factory

If you have a sweet tooth, do head down to Cheesecake Factory at Macy’s. They have numerous cheesecakes to choose from. I had the strawberry cheescake and I must say it was damn good!

Getting a spot to sit is quite difficult. Hence, you may consider packing it back home.

Address
251 Geary Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Tel: (415) 391-4444
Website: http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com‎

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Lori’s Diner

Lori’s Diner is one of those nostalgic themed restaurants. This one would be the fabulous 50s theme.


The milkshake here is awesome. So awesome that it come with free refill!

My Spanish and Macau friends and I had dinner here.


This is Cheres from Macau. She was here to attend the conference as well. It’s rare to see young people in this conference hence we clicked quite well.


Their French Toast is highly recommended. Don’t miss thiss!

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Address
161 Powell Street, San Francisco, CA 94102-2203
Tel: (415) 362-8001
Website: http://www.lorisdiner.com

KL BAR YLC CHARITY NIGHT 2011: THE BAR GIVES BACK!

This event is open to non lawyers. It’s for charity.

We are pleased to announce the return of our highly anticipated KL BAR YLC CHARITY NIGHT 2011: THE BAR GIVES BACK! This annual event is happening on 30 September 2011, 7pm-11pm at Seduction, KL (Jalan P. Ramlee). Hosted by Jason Leong from The Comedy Club fame and featuring guest performance by ECX, the winner of Showdown 2011, this year’s Charity Night 2011 is the biggest one yet! Tickets are reasonably priced at RM35 for early birds and RM40 for tickets purchased at the door. Prices are inclusive of two drinks of your choice and finger food. Kindly contact Melissa Dass at melissadass@klbar.org.my or 03-26920745 to purchase your tickets.

1. Date:30th September 2011 (Friday)

2. Venue: Seduction Club (Below Modesto’s) Jalan P.Ramlee

3. Time: from 7pm onwards.

4. Tickets priced at RM35.00 ONLY before 30.09.2011 (RM40.00 at the door ONLY):

Click here for more details.

R U Ready?

[Advertorial]

With election looming, it’s time for Barisan Nasional to dish out some goodies. The latest goodie, the repeal of the Internal Security Act 1950 and the 3 emergency ordinances. Although this move is highly applaud, it still doesn’t solve many of this country’s problem. Corruption and abuse of power are still rampant.

To evaluate whether the Barisan Nasional has done well since the last election, the article by Lucius Goon published by Malaysian Insider is a good article to evaluate whether BN have done well.

SEPT 15 – If Malaysians ever needed any evidence on what sustained opposition and pressure from the public can achieve, they need not wonder any more.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that the ISA would be repealed, that the laws of assembly would be changed, that the three proclamations of Emergency will be repealed, etc. This is indeed a welcome move and as expected the PM will claim credit and say that it shows that he is a reformer.

Let’s not forget Malaysians, today came about only because Najib is desperate. He knows he has lost middle Malaysia because of his administration’s flip-flops, corruption, the antics of the First Family and the right-wing bent of Umno politicians.

It is akin to Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi trying to reform the judiciary and set up the MACC (we know how that turned out) after the major reverses of 2008. He too only moved after the voters gave him a whack.

It does seem that our Umno leaders will only give us what we want and deserve when they have no more options. This is hardly surprising because reform and Umno do not exist in the same planet.

Tomorrow’s headlines in the mainstream media will be effusive and over the top.

The sycophants will call Najib Bapa Transformasi or Bapa Reformasi but I invite Malaysians to ponder on the role all of us especially the brave men and women of Bersih 2.0 played in forcing Najib to go down a path he never intended to go.

I also urge Malaysians to remember what has not changed and what can never be changed:

1) Bersih was declared an illegal organisation and six Parti Sosialis Malaysia politicians were detained unfairly and yet the government has not had the decency to apologise for its overreaction. Basically Malaysians were treated like criminals.

2) Ibrahim Ali and Perkasa have been given a free reign by Najib to push Malaysia to the right.

3) This is the administration which has reneged on its word on liberalising the economy. Instead, Najib is allowing Umno/crony capitalists to once again grab a share of big projects like the MRT, LRT.

4) Nothing is sacred anymore. Now our history is being changed to suit Umno’s current worldview. All because Mat Sabu said that Mat Indera was a hero for attacking a police post manned by British.

He was accused of supporting communists and then Umno-friendly academics said that British were friendly parties because Malaya was not colonised!!! History was turned on its head by liars who will say and do anything to stay in power.

5) Teoh Beng Hock and Ahmad Sarbaini died under mysterious circumstances while in MACC buildings. Lawyer Shafee Abdullah would like us to believe that Sarbaini went on to the ledge for fun and then fell to his death. But we know better.

6) This is the administration which bullied its way to power in Perak, usupring power which the people gave to Pakatan Rakyat. Legal precedents were thrown out and the crooks were installed as the government.

7) This is the government where Umno types get 30 per cent commission on defence deals. This is what a Wikileaks cable said.

8) This is a government where the rights of Christians have been trampled on. I am not only talking about the Allah case but also the Alkitab issue.

9) This is also the government where a chief minister continues to lord over the state despite heaps of evidence of corruption and abuse of power.

So today belongs to Malaysians who have not flinched at the threats of the government and who have pressured Najib the reluctant reformer.

If you want a better Malaysia, you have to fight for it. The government only responds when we don’t buckle.

My assignment of this advertorial tasked me to write an article on the importance of voting. You can check the article at the R U Ready page at http://www.facebook.com/rureadymy at this link. Please share it with your friends.

Also, please LIKE the page and join the Music Video contest that is running at this link.

To participate in the Music Video Contest, please do the following:-

1 : Take Photo or shoot a short video clip of what is going on in your life.
2: Submit your videos or photos together with your Name, IC Number, Email and contact number via:

R U Ready Facebook Page
E-mail @ contest@ruready.com.my
MMS to 36633 as follows:- RUReady<space>Full
Name<space>IC No.

Contest period: 15 August-26 September 2011. Winners will be notified via phone or email.

Remember to register to vote and Undilah in the next election!

Borneo Court Document

You may remember my blog postings about the Straits Settlement Court documents. I now have one from Kuching dating back to 1939.

The person featured on the stamps is Charles Vyner Brooke, third and final White Rajah of Sarawak. This stamp was produced from 1934 to 1941. There is little value in these 2 stamps.

This Court order as a whole, however, is quite valuable. There are not many old Sarawak Court documents available in the market. This document was initially priced at RM400 which I have reduced to RM200 after bargaining. RM200 is still a little bit expensive considering that it only costs me SGD15 for my old Straits Settlement documents. However, I believe it is worth it as there is only one copy in this world.

This Court order was signed by Mr. Gerald Francis Jack Pegler (later Lieutenant) serving as a Magistrate of the Second Class of the District Court of Kuching. Not many information is available on Mr Pegler.

According to RootsWeb and the Roll of Honour websites, Mr Pegler was born around 1909.

He was married to Eve Lilian Dalton in or around 1936. They then had a daughter by the name Jennifer Gaye Pegler who was born in Singapore in 1939.

Mr Pegler’s name was mentioned in a few times in the old Singaporean Straits Times. On or around 13 May 1930, he was appointed as a cadet in the service of the Sarawak Government – then ruled by the White Rajah.

He served as an officer of Class III in Sarikei in August 1933. On or around 12 December 1935, he was appointed as Assistant District Officer in Kuching and promoted to District Officer on or around 30 April 1936.

When World War Two broke, he was made Secretary of Defence. What happened to him next is unclear but a newspaper report stated that one person by the name G. S. J. Pegler (presumably G. F. J Pegler due to a typographical error) was tasked to lead the Sarawak Rangers to defend against the Japanese invasion.

Sarawak was captured by the Japanese in 1942. Unfortunately, Mr Pegler was captured by the Japanese and was sent to work at the death railway. He died at the age of 34 and buried in the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Thailand on 20 November 1943. Sad ending for a promising young man.

After Mr Pegler’s death, his daughter, Jennifer got married had a daughter and a son. She died in 1971.

I contacted a relative of the Pegler family. Unfortunately, I did not receive any response from her. It will certainly be interesting to know the live of Mr. Pegler, who once had the luxury of living as Government officer and ended his life as a prisoner of war in the Burma-Thailand railway.

Malaysia’s Intellectual Property bLawG

I started a blawg with a focus on intellectual property, information technology and data protection. At the moment, it houses all my articles and media appearances. Purpose of housing them is to separate my identity as a blogger and a lawyer.

Instead of giving my blog address during professional networking sessions (where sometimes people like think..xes…SEX arr???), I can give my blawg address. Click here to visit! Will be updating it from time to time.

Articles are good marketing tools. They generally do not generate direct work but they do generate a lot of opportunities such as speaking arrangements.

Recently, I gave a talk on data protection at the Annual Conference for Chartered Secretaries of Malaysia. It was probably my 20th talk within a span of one year. Since I’ve done the same topic so many times, I didn’t bother to prepare and also didn’t bother to ask anything about the participants (biggest sin when giving presentation!). I thought it would be a small crowd of 20 – 30 people.


However, it had over 300 people /(*O*)\. I was shocked!

Nevertheless, practice makes perfect. Since I’ve done the same topic many times, it went well. I started off with a question to the crowd and the crowd faintly answered it. When I gave the answer, loud gasps were heard. From there onwards, they were all ears.

The talk went so well that it received positive feed backs. So positive that the same association contacted me again for another round of talks. The results of this talk is far cry from one talk where one participant came up to me asking me to learn public speaking. And yes, I did follow his advice.

So weeks later, the association sent a picture of me on stage.


My face was photoshopped. I lost all my pimples and pores -_-

Visit FoongChengLeong.com

Purina One – Picture of Health Contest – Part II

I used to have dogs when I was in primary school. It all started when a stray dog came to my house and gave birth to 10 puppies. We adopted the stray dog, which we named Lassie, and the puppies.

We eventually gave all the puppies away except two puppies named Pilot and Flower. That was in 1990. Lassie die a few months after giving birth. We adopted Pilot and Flower as our own.


Smiling Pilot


Angry Looking Flower

Pilot was my favourite. Flower on the other hand was an angry bully. Pilot eventually passed on but my parents hide her death from me. They said Pilot ran away. I didn’t know Pilot died years later.

I have now stopped rearing dogs. Mum now suddenly grown fond of cats. I have a few of them at home now. I hope Mum doesn’t turn into the cat lady in The Simpsons.

Anyway, do check out the doggie pictures posted by contestants on Purina One’s gallery. There are only 60 entries now. That’s like 1/60 chance of winning RM10,000!

If you’re thinking of posting an entry, you may consider doing the following:-


Add in some props like a hat


or a shirt


Also pose with Purina One like Charlie here.


Or do some stunts like this. This dog reminds me of Ping


Ong Bak!

Click the link below to join!
http://www.purina.com.my/purinaone/challenge2011/submission.htm